Animals That Start With N

20 animals Animals and nature Checked 9 Oct 2026

Here are 20 animals that start with N, each with a one-line description so you can tell what it is. The best-known ones come first, then the full list in A to Z order.

N offers 20 animals, and a surprising number are named for the night. The nightingale, nighthawk, nightjar, night heron, night monkey and night lizard all carry that word, which makes a great hook for a lesson on nocturnal life.

The narwhal, a whale with a long tusk, is often the star for children. The newt is a small amphibian, and the nautilus is a shelled relative of the octopus. The numbat, an Australian termite eater, is rare and memorable. Nuthatch and nutcracker are birds named after how they handle nuts.

Animals starting with N: 20
Best known: nightingale, newt
Longest name: northern pike
Most are: birds

Best-known animals that start with N

The ones most people will recognise, good for school lists, quizzes and games.

nightingale
newt
nautilus
nurse shark
nightcrawler
nighthawk
narwhal
northern pike
nightjar
nuthatch
needlefish
nene
night monkey
nilgai
numbat

All animals that start with N

#	Name	What it is	Type
1	narwhal	small Arctic whale the male having a long spiral ivory tusk	mammal
2	nautilus	cephalopod mollusk of warm seas whose females have delicate papery spiral shells	mollusc
3	needlefish	long thin fish with sharp needle-like jaws	fish
4	nematode	unsegmented worms with elongated rounded body pointed at both ends; mostly free-living but some are parasitic	worm
5	nene	goose native to Hawaii and its state bird	other
6	newt	small usually bright-colored semiaquatic salamanders of North America and Europe and northern Asia	amphibian
7	night heron	nocturnal or crepuscular herons	bird
8	night lizard	small secretive nocturnal lizard of southwestern North America and Cuba; bear live young	reptile
9	night monkey	South American monkey with big eyes, active at night	other
10	night snake	nocturnal prowler of western United States and Mexico	reptile
11	nightcrawler	terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil	worm
12	nighthawk	mainly nocturnal North American goatsucker	bird
13	nightingale	European songbird noted for its melodious nocturnal song	bird
14	nightjar	mainly crepuscular or nocturnal nonpasserine birds with mottled greyish-brown plumage and large eyes; feed on insects	bird
15	nilgai	large antelope of India, also called blue bull	mammal
16	northern pike	voracious piscivorous pike of waters of northern hemisphere	fish
17	numbat	small striped Australian marsupial that eats termites	mammal
18	nurse shark	small bottom-dwelling shark of warm shallow waters on both coasts of North America and South America and from southeast...	fish
19	nutcracker	any of various small short-tailed songbirds with strong feet and a sharp beak that feed on small nuts and insects	bird
20	nuthatch	any of various small short-tailed songbirds with strong feet and a sharp beak that feed on small nuts and insects	bird

Mammals that start with N

narwhal
nilgai
numbat

Birds that start with N

nightingale
nighthawk
nightjar
nuthatch
nutcracker
night heron

Fish that start with N

nurse shark
northern pike
needlefish

Reptiles that start with N

night snake
night lizard

Worms that start with N

nightcrawler
nematode

Other animals that start with N

nene
night monkey

Questions people ask

How many animals start with N?

This list has 20 animals starting with N, from well-known ones like nightingale, newt, nautilus to rarer kinds.

What animals start with N?

Well-known examples are nightingale, newt, nautilus, nurse shark, nightcrawler, nighthawk, narwhal, northern pike.

What mammals start with N?

narwhal, nilgai, numbat.

What birds start with N?

nightingale, nighthawk, nightjar, nuthatch, nutcracker.

What fish start with N?

nurse shark, northern pike, needlefish.

Source: Princeton WordNet, a public dictionary database, reviewed by our editors to keep only clear, real members of the list. Meanings are short dictionary glosses.

See every letter on one page: animals A to Z